Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Chawrasia became the second Indian

14.03.2017 10:02:26 – Chawrasia became the second Indian after Jyoti Randhawa to win the Indian Open at two different venues.SSP Chawrasia ‘seizes the day’ with stellar final round performance to successfully defend Indian Open crown

SSP Chawrasia ‘seizes the day’ with stellar final round performance to successfully defend Indian Open crown;

Bags fourth European Tour title, second Indian to do so after Jeev Milkha Singh

Gurgaon, March 12, 2017: SSP Chawrasia’s extraordinary achievements at the international stage have now become part of Indian golfing folklore. On Sunday,

the plucky Indian added another glorious chapter to his glittering career as he marched to an emphatic seven-shot victory at the US$ 1.75 million Hero Indian Open 2017, to successfully defend his crown.

The Indian delighted the home crowd at the DLF Golf & Country Club in Gurgaon with a rock-solid one-under-71 on the final day of the European Tour and Asian Tour co-sanctioned event to end the week with an impressive total of 10-under-278 en route his sixth international win.

Malaysia’s Gavin Green finished a distant second at three-under-285. Anirban Lahiri was the next best Indian after Chawrasia as he claimed tied fifth place at one-under-287 after a final round of 71. Lahiri was one among the seven players who finished the tournament with sub-par totals.

SSP, who has now become the second Indian after Jeev Milkha Singh to bag four European Tour titles, tamed the treacherous course at the DLF Golf & Country Club with scores of 72, 67, 68 and 71 to also become the first player to retain the title since Jyoti Randhawa, who achieved the feat in 2007.

Chawrasia sounded an alarm to all his rivals early in the day when he drained a hat trick of birdies on the 13th, 14th and 15th in his unfinished third round. The birdie blitz gave him a crucial two-shot lead at nine-under at the end of round three.

In the final round, SSP made a confident start with an early birdie on the fourth. He then stumbled with bogeys on the sixth and seventh but soon regained ground by sinking birdies on the eighth, ninth and 13th to build a commanding lead. Chawrasia finally coasted to victory despite a last-hole bogey and emerged as the first Indian to defend a European Tour title as his nearest rivals, Malaysian Gavin Green and Spaniard Carlos Pigem failed to mount a challenge.

Chawrasia said, “I feel great as it’s one of the toughest courses I’ve played on. Winning by seven shots, I’m really happy. This is probably the best win of my career. I gave my hundred per cent and I practiced a lot on everything.

“When I finished the round, I knew I had a few shots lead into the final round. I didn’t need birdies, just aiming for pars in the final round. After bogeys on 6 and 7, I was a little edgy and I had to make some birdies. I then got a bit serious and managed to come back.

“I just played good this week, obviously some luck too. Jeev was telling me to calm down and play my own game and not look at others. I told him I’ll follow his advice and I followed the same routine.

“I struggled a bit on the greens, but I made some good up and downs and good putts. I learned many things this week and hopefully I can play better in Europe. That’s my target next, I have to win in Europe.”

The 38-year-old SSP took home the winner’s cheque worth US$ 291,660 as the trophy stayed in India for the third year running. He has now moved up from 194th place to 18th position in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai and from 60th to second in the Asian Tour Order of Merit. The Kolkata man is now also likely to move up about 80 spots from his current 258th position in the official world golf ranking when the updated rankings are released on Monday afternoon.

The other important milestone achieved by Chawrasia as a result of his victory on Sunday was, becoming the third Indian after Jyoti Randhawa (2000, 2006 & 2007) and Ali Sher (1991 & 1993) to win the Indian Open on two or more occasions (2016 & 2017).

Anirban Lahiri, the 2015 champion, moved up three spots to tied fifth place in the last round courtesy his 71 on Sunday.

Chiragh Kumar was tied 22nd at five-over-293. Chikkarangappa was a further two shots back in tied 34th while Shubhankar Sharma closed the tournament in tied 40th at nine-over-297.

Gaganjeet Bhullar and Shamim Khan were both in tied 43rd at 10-over-298. Arjun Atwal and Ajeetesh Sandhu claimed tied 55th at 13-over-301.

Digvijay Singh and Deepinder Singh Kullar were tied 60th at 14-over-302 even as Jyoti Randhawa occupied 64th at 15-over-303.

Here are some of the stats relating to SSP Chawrasia’s victory at the Hero Indian Open 2017:

With this win: SSP Chawrasia became the second Indian after Jeev Milkha Singh to bag four European Tour titles, his sixth win on the Asian Tour and overall sixth international victory.

· Became the first Indian to defend a European Tour title.· Chawrasia climbed from 194th place to 18th position in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai and from 60th to second place in the Asian Tour Order of Merit. The Kolkata man is now also likely to move up about 80 spots from his current 258th position in the official world golf ranking when the updated rankings are released on Monday afternoon.

· Chawrasia became the third Indian after Jyoti Randhawa (2000, 2006 & 2007) and Ali Sher (1991 & 1993) to win the Indian Open on two or more occasions (2016 & 2017).

· Becomes only the third player to make a successful defence of the Indian Open since the event began in 1964, the first player to achieve the feat was Japan’s Kenji Hosoishi (1967-68).

· Became the first player since Jyoti Randhawa and the second Indian after him to successfully defend the Indian Open title, Randhawa, a three-time winner, won back-to-back in 2006 and 2007 at the Delhi Golf Club.

· Chawrasia became the second Indian after Jyoti Randhawa to win the Indian Open at two different venues, Randhawa had won it at Classic Golf Resort, Gurgaon in 2000 and at the Delhi Golf Club in 2006 and 2007.

· The third consecutive win for India at the Indian Open, Anirban Lahiri won it in 2015 and SSP Chawrasia won his first in 2016.

· The 13th Indian win in European Tour history.

· The first time India have won the same European Tour event in three consecutive seasons.

· Chawrasia’s 16th win as a professional.The 76th international win for India.

· Makes European Tour history by becoming the first player to win their first four European Tour titles on home soil. The wins are: 2008 EMAAR-MGF Indian Masters, 2011 Avantha Masters, 2016 Hero Indian Open and 2017 Hero Indian Open.

· Continues with his incredible record in the Hero Indian Open since the event became part of the European Tour International Schedule in 2015. In 2015 he finished second and first in 2016 and 2017.Continues with his incredible career record in the Hero Indian Open. Has now finished inside the top two six times, with two wins and four runner-up placings.· Becomes the first Indian to win the same European Tour event twice.Becomes the second Indian to win European Tour events in consecutive seasons, following Arjun Atwal (2002 Caltex Singapore Masters presented by Carlsberg) and (2003 Carlsberg Malaysian Open).

Polish prosecutors summon EU’s Tusk for questioning on March 15:The district prosecutor’s office in Warsaw has summoned European Council president Donald Tusk for questioning on Wednesday in relation to a case against former secret service officials, the prosecutors’ office said. “Tusk has been summoned as a witness in a case against former heads of military counter-intelligence services (SKW), who were charged with co-operating with intelligence services of another country without the required authorization of the prime minister,” prosecutor Michal Dziekanski said. The case concerns events in 2010 when Tusk was Poland’s prime minister.

Hungary’s parliament re-elects President Ader for 5-year term

Hungary’s parliament re-elected President Janos Ader, an ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, for another five-year term after he received a strong majority in a second round of voting, Speaker Laszlo Kover said on Monday. Ader received 131 votes of a total 170 cast. Leftist opposition candidate Laszlo Majtenyi received 39 votes. Ader’s second term will start on May 10, Kover said.

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday postponed her trip to Washington for her first face-to-face meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump due to the late-winter storm expected on the U.S. east coast. Merkel had been scheduled to arrive late Monday night for meetings with Trump on Tuesday but called off the trip at the last minute due to the weather, her office said. The White House said the meeting was rescheduled for Friday.

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake jolted buildings in Myanmar’s largest city and commercial hub of Yangon on Monday at about 8:50pm (1420 GMT). There were no immediate reports of major damage or power cuts, with traffic in the city centre moving smoothly. The US Geological Survey said the epicentre was 69 km (43 miles) north-north-west of Yangon at a depth of 10 km near the small town of Taik Kyi. Tin Soe Min, a regional representative for the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party said he had no reports of any residents being seriously injured or killed.

Netherlands on Monday issued a new travel warning to Dutch citizens in Turkey urging them to take care amid a bitter row between the two countries. “Since March 11, 2017 there have been diplomatic tensions between Turkey and The Netherlands. Stay alert across the whole of Turkey and avoid gatherings and crowded places,”the Foreign Ministry said. It said there was a safety risk in traveling to Turkey, and said citizens could register with the ministry ahead of travel. “Across the whole country there is a high risk of terrorist attacks,”it added, particularly warning against travel to the borders with Syria and Iraq. The row has erupted just days before Dutch general elections, already marked by a polarizing debate over immigration and integration

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday slammed the EU for telling Ankara to refrain from excessive statements, saying it was very grave for the bloc to stand by the Netherlands which it said has violated human rights and European values. Turkish Foreign Ministry said the EU was exercising democratic values and basic rights and freedoms selectively and that its comments calling for calm had no value for Ankara. A colossal row over Turkish campaigning in the Netherlands has escalated into a full-blown crisis between the two NATO allies.